COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State women’s soccer team opens the NCAA Tournament at Kentucky at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The winner of Friday’s matchup will face the winner of No. 2 seed UCLA and San Diego State in the second round next weekend.

The Buckeyes, in their fifth-consecutive NCAA Tournament, have posted a 10-6-3 overall record this season, 4-5-2 in Big Ten play, while Kentucky, in its third-straight NCAA Tournament, is 13-5-1, 7-4-0 in SEC play.

Fans can follow live stats or video on the schedule page at OhioStateBuckeyes.com and NCAA.com or follow on Twitter @OhioState_WSOC.

OHIO STATE OF LATEDespite outshooting No. 8 Michigan 19-10, the Buckeyes dropped a 2-0 decision Nov. 2 in Ann Arbor. Nichelle Prince and Danica Wu each tallied four shots while Jillian McVicker made a pair of saves in goal.

OHIO STATE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENTIn 21 seasons of women’s soccer, 2013 marks the ninth time overall and sixth time in the past seven seasons the Buckeyes have reached the NCAA Tournament. Ohio State is 9-7-2 all-time in NCAA play, all under the direction of Walker. A look at how the Buckeyes have fared in their last four NCAA Tournaments:

SOME MORE NCAA NUMBERS- The Big Ten and the ACC each put eight teams in the NCAA Tournament, the most of any conference nationally.- Penn State, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, Nebraska and Illinois join the Buckeyes in the NCAA Tournament. Morehead State, Boston College, Northeastern and St. John’s, four more 2013 opponents of the Buckeyes, also qualified for the NCAA Tournament.- Ohio State is 5-4-2 on the season against NCAA Tournament teams.- Ohio State is 4-3-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament openers.

BUCKEYES PICK UP B1G HONORSMegan Fuller and Nichelle Prince were named second team All-Big Ten, the conference office announced Nov. 5. In addition, Prince and Alexis Degler were selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman team while Ellyn Gruber was the Buckeyes’ sportsmanship award honoree.

SENIOR CLASS SECOND IN OSU HISTORYThe 2013 senior class of Megan Fuller, Samantha Lewis, Rachel Middleman, Kristen Niederhaus and Danica Wu currently has the second-highest win total of any senior class in program history. The 2013 seniors sit behind only the 2012 class for most victories in Ohio State history. A look at the other top classes:

59 wins: 201255 wins: 201351 wins: 2010, 201149 wins: 2006

PRINCE B1G FRESHMAN OF THE WEEKNichelle Prince was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the second-consecutive week, the conference office announced Oct. 21. The award is the third Big Ten Freshman of the Week laurel for the Ajax, Ontario, native.

After scoring a goal in a 4-2 loss at No. 17 Penn State Oct. 17, Prince tallied a hat trick in the Buckeyes’ 6-1 win over Northwestern Oct. 20 in Columbus. The hat trick was her second of her freshman season and she becomes one of three Buckeyes with multiple hat tricks in their career. Prince leads Ohio State with 11 goals and is tied for second on the team with six assists on the season.

BUCKEYES IN THE RECORD BOOKA number of Buckeyes are climbing up the single-season and career rankings in the Ohio State record book. A look at where the Buckeyes stand:

- Megan Fuller and Danica Wu sit tied for sixth on the career assists list with 16.- Rachel Middleman has posted the lowest career goals-against average in Ohio State history at 0.66.- Michela Paradiso sits tied for 13th in Ohio State history with 14 assists.- Nichelle Prince is tied for fourth on the Ohio State single-season goals and single-season points list with 12 and 30, respectively.

SCOUTING KENTUCKYKentucky, coached by former Ohio State assistant Jon Lipsitz, is 13-5-1 on the season and posted a 7-4-0 record in SEC play. Arin Gilliland leads the Wildcats with 11 goals and nine assists while goalkeeper Kayla King has posted a 1.21 goals-against average and five shutouts.

The Buckeyes are 0-4-1 all-time against Kentucky.

BUCKEYES IN THE BIG TENOhio State ranks near the top of the Big Ten in several categories including goals-against average (3rd, 0.96), goals allowed (2nd, 19) and assists (2nd, 45).

Nichelle Prince ranks fourth in the conference with 12 goals and 30 points and is tied for the Big Ten lead with six game-winners. Danica Wu and Ellyn Gruber are tied for ninth with seven assists while Jillian McVicker ranks fourth with a 1.03 goals-against average.

MULTIPLE BUCKEYES MAKE CONTRIBUTIONSFifteen Buckeyes have tallied a point so far this season, including 10 different goal scorers. Eight players have notched their first points in a Buckeye uniform.

FULLER CONTINUES STREAKSenior defender and co-captain Megan Fuller has been a stalwart on the back line for the Buckeyes over her career. The Bondurant, Iowa, native has not missed a minute of game time since the final game of the 2011 campaign in the Sweet 16 at Duke.

WHAT DO THE COACHES THINK?Ohio State was picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten preseason coaches’ poll, the conference office announced Aug. 14. Senior Megan Fuller and freshmen Lindsay Agnew and Nichelle Prince were named the Buckeyes’ players to watch.

THE COACHING STAFFOhio State is under the direction of 17th-year head coach Lori Walker. She has guided the team to nine NCAA Tournament berths (2002-03-04-07-09-10-11-12-13), a Big Ten regular season championship (2010) and three Big Ten Tournament championships (2002, 2004, 2012). Her record at Ohio State is 196-130-31 and her career record, including two seasons at Kansas, is 209-153-32.

Associate head coach Glen Tourville is in his sixth season while Jason Goodson enters his second season as an assistant coach with the Buckeyes.

JESSE OWENS MEMORIAL STADIUMJesse Owens Memorial Stadium, the home to the Buckeyes, has provided quite the home-field advantage for the women’s soccer team. Some stats about the facility:

- The home team is 105-39-15 all-time.- Ohio State is 86-22-13 since 2003 and 61-17-9 since 2006.- The Buckeyes went 9-2-0 at home in 2009, 9-2-2 in 2010, 7-4 in 2011 and 9-1-1 in 2012.